WCM tip #14: Use slugs with content catalogs for better SEO

When working with content catalogs use slug as the URL field to optimize the URL of the catalog item for Internet search engines.

When working with content catalogs one of the configuration steps is to specify one or more URL columns. In order for the content to be retrieved properly the URL must be unique. When working with catalogs it might be tempting to use the native identifier for the given type of content, such as ISBN for books or SKU number for products. Although those native identifiers are unique, it is very unlikely that your visitors will use those identifiers to look for relevant content. Instead of using those native identifiers, if you are planning to have your content catalog published on the Internet, you should add a new column that will allow you to specify a slug – search engines optimized page name for each catalog item. When used as URL field for your catalog, your slug will help you improve the ranking of your content in search results.